Junior Caminero, Yandy Díaz and Brandon Lowe have been named American League (AL) finalists for Silver Slugger Awards at third base, designated hitter and second base, respectively.
Caminero, 22, was named a finalist alongside Boston’s Alex Bregman and Cleveland’s José Ramírez. The native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic slashed .264/.311/.535 (159-for-602) with 28 doubles, 45 home runs, 110 RBI and 93 runs across 154 games. He led AL third basemen in home runs, extra-base hits (73), RBI, slugging percentage and total bases, ranked second in runs scored, OPS (.846) and OPS+ (131), and was third in hits and bWAR (4.5). A
mong all qualified AL hitters, Caminero finished among the league’s top 10 leaders in home runs (3rd), total bases (3rd), extra-base hits (4th), RBI (5th), slugging percentage (5th), OPS (10th) and runs (10th). According to Stats Perform, he became the fourth player to lead his club in games, home runs, RBI and runs scored outright as the youngest player to appear for the team that season since RBI became an official statistic in 1920, joining Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. (2023-24), St. Louis’ Albert Pujols (2001-02) and Philadelphia’s Scott Rolen (1997-98).
Caminero became the second Ray to hit 40 home runs (or more) in a season along with Carlos Peña (46 HR, 2007) and joined the Milwaukee Braves’ Eddie Mathews (47 HR, 1953) as the only players in major league history to tally 45 home runs (or more) in an age-21-or-younger season (age as of June 30). He tied the Rays franchise record with four multi-homer games and launched six home runs or more all six calendar months of the season, becoming the first player in MLB history to accomplish the feat in an age-21-or-younger season. Caminero joined New York AL’s Alex Rodriguez (2007, 2005) as the only third AL third basemen to record 25 doubles, 45 home runs and 110 RBI in a season. The 110 RBI marked the highest total by a Rays hitter since Evan Longoria drove in 113 runs in 2009.
Caminero, a first-time All-Star, is the first Rays third baseman to be named a finalist since Isaac Paredes in 2023 and would be the club’s second third baseman to win a Silver Slugger, joining Longoria in 2009. He would also surpass Longoria (age-23 season) as the youngest player in franchise history to receive a Silver Slugger.
At designated hitter, the 34-year-old Díaz is a finalist along with the Athletics’ Brent Rooker and Toronto’s George Springer. The Rays first finalist at the position since Nelson Cruz in 2021, Díaz is seeking his second career Silver Slugger Award after earning the honor at first base in 2023, which would make him the Rays first multi-time recipient. He hit .300/.366/.482 (175-for-583) with 29 doubles, one triple, 25 home runs, 83 RBI and 79 runs scored, setting career highs in hits, homers and RBI across a career-best 150 games. He was one of six qualified AL hitters to post a .300 average or better, and his 53 multi-hit games tied Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez for the major league lead, making him the first player in club history to pace the majors in multi-hit efforts. He also ranked fourth in the AL in hits and on-base percentage, sixth in batting average, and eighth in OPS. Díaz, Springer and New York-AL’s Aaron Judge were the only players in the majors to hit .300 or better with 25 home runs or more. Díaz joined Aubrey Huff (2003) and Fred McGriff (1999) as the only players in franchise history to turn the trick.
A nine-year veteran, Díaz appeared in a career-high 114 games at designated hitter, second most in franchise history behind Johnny Damon in 2011 (135). Among qualified AL hitters with at least half of their games at designated hitter, he ranked second in average, on-base percentage, OPS and bWAR (3.4) and was third in slugging percentage and runs scored. From May 31 on, he led the majors in hits and batting average (.340/125-for-368)—among AL hitters, only Judge (1.086), the Athletics’ Nick Kurtz (1.072) and Springer (1.037) had a better OPS than Díaz (.956) in that span. He also led the majors with 260 hard-hit balls on the season, the highest total by a Rays batter in the Statcast era (2015—pres.).
Lowe, 31, who earned his second career All-Star selection this past season, is attempting to win his first career Silver Slugger Award and become the first Rays second baseman to receive the accolade. He joins New York-AL’s Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Seattle’s Jorge Polanco as AL finalists at the position.
The Virginia native hit .256/.307/.477 (130-for-507) with 19 doubles, 31 home runs, 83 RBI and 79 runs scored over 131 games, second most of his career behind 2021 (149). The 31 homers tied Chisholm Jr. for the most among MLB second basemen and marked the second-highest total by a Rays middle infielder, trailing only Lowe’s 2021 campaign (39). It also made him the third Rays hitter with multiple 30-homer seasons, joining Longoria (four) and Peña (three). He led AL second basemen in RBI and extra-base hits (50), tied for the lead in runs scored, was second in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS (.785), and ranked fourth in bWAR (1.8), fifth in doubles and sixth in on-base percentage.
Lowe recorded a franchise-record-tying 20-game hitting streak from June 11—July 5, matching Diaz’s streak from June 7-28, 2024. It marked the longest run by a primary second baseman since Arizona’s Ketel Marte hit safely in 21 consecutive games from April 28—May 22, 2024. During the streak, Lowe hit .367/.412/.633 (29-for-79) with three doubles, six home runs and 14 RBI.
Silver Slugger Awards have been awarded to the best individual batting performances at each position in both the American and National Leagues since 1980. Votes are based on a combination of offensive statistics including OPS, OPS+, home runs, RBI, batting average, total bases and runs scored, as well as managers’ and coaches’ general impressions of a player’s overall offensive value. Finalists were determined based on voting tallies. The AL winners will be announced at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7 on The Baseball Insiders stream on YouTube.
Four Rays have previously won Silver Slugger Awards: Díaz in 2023 (first base), Carl Crawford in 2010 (left field), Longoria in 2009 (third base) and Peña in 2007 (first base).
This marks the third time the Rays have had three players voted as Silver Slugger finalists, joining 2023 (Díaz, Randy Arozarena, Isaac Paredes) and 2021 (Arozarena, Cruz, Mike Zunino). The current format in which three finalists are recognized at each position in both leagues was established in 2021.
